A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Novelization
by Jeffaplus
Summary: Merry Christmas! Here is my take on the beloved holiday special.
1. The Charlie Browniest

Disclaimer: Characters, content, and everything else but the words, do not belong to me. No profit or anything is being made. This is simply my novelization of a great special. I hope you enjoy it! Merry Christmas!

An ice skate cut into a frozen pond. Snowflakes drifted to the ground. Pine trees were bathed in white.

A dozen kids were skating on ice, smiling and laughing happily. As they skated, they sang:

_Christmastime is here,_

_happiness and cheer..._

_Fun for all_

_that children call_

_their favorite time of year..._

_Snowflakes in the air,_

_Carols everywhere..._

_Olden times_

_and ancient rhymes_

_of love and dreams to share..._

About a quarter of a mile away, two kids were walking to go skating at the pond. One was a round-faced boy, with almost no hair, wearing a red coat and a yellow striped shirt under it. The other, a scraggly-haired, smaller boy, was clutching a blanket as he walked.

The two stopped and leaned on a brick wall.

"I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus," the round-faced boy said. "Christmas is coming, but I'm not happy.

"I don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel."

Linus looked at him skeptically, and the two continued their journey. As they walked, the boy said:

"I just don't understand Christmas, I guess. I like getting presents, and sending Christmas cards and all that, but I'm still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed."

Linus turned around. "Charlie Brown," he said sternly, talking with a slight lisp, "You're the only person I know who could take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem. Maybe Lucy's right. Of all the Charlie Browns in the world ... you're the Charlie Browniest."

They had reached the pond by now, and listened to the kids singing:

_Sleighbells in the air,_

_Beauty everywhere..._

_Yuletide by _

_the fireside,_

_And joyful memories there..._

_Christmastime is here,_

_We'll be drawing near..._

_Oh, that we _

_could always see_

_such spirit through the year..._

Linus pointed out to Charlie Brown a little white beagle skate with the kids. Charlie Brown sighed; the white beagle was his dog, Snoopy, and he knew that Snoopy was not your ordinary dog. For one thing, he walked upright, like humans; for another thing, he understood human language and had constant fantasies about World War I and skating in the Masters.

And speaking of which...

As Snoopy skated, he was slowly forming a line of kids, with more and more children joining on to make a long tail. Suddenly, Snoopy turned around suddenly, cracking the line like a whip, and the kids went spinning off in different directions, laughing happily. Snoopy himself spun out of control, eventually falling on the ice, where he continued spinning until he slowly came to a stop.

Linus and Charlie Brown put on their skates and joined the festivities, but their joy was to be short lived. Snoopy grabbed Linus' blanket (with Linus himself holding on) and started dragging poor Linus behind him, eventually lifting him off the ground. When Snoopy passed Charlie Brown, he got tangled up in the blanket as well, which Snoopy spun around and around and around. Charlie Brown flew out of the blanket, slid on the ice, and bashed into a tree. To add insult to injury, Snoopy let go of Linus' blanket and Linus flew into the dazed Charlie Brown, knocking a huge pile of snow off of the tree and burying the two boys in a mound of rubble.

It took awhile before they could get out again.


	2. The Doctor is In

At home, Charlie Brown looked out at the still-falling snow, put on his coat, and sauntered outside. He stopped to look in his mailbox.

"Hello in there!" he yelled inside it.

"Hello in there ... Hello in there ... Hello in there ... " an echo replied.

"Rats," Charlie Brown said, frowning. "Nobody sent me a Christmas card today."

He began walking, talking to himself.

"I almost wish there wasn't a holiday season. I know nobody likes me. Why do we have to have a holiday season to emphasize it?"

He met a black-haired girl with her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Thanks for the Christmas card you sent me, Violet," he said mockingly.

"I didn't send you a Christmas card, Charlie Brown," the girl said, mocking him right back. She walked away.

"Don't you know sarcasm when you hear it?" Charlie Brown called after her, and continued walking.

He noticed a very dirty snowman, with a cloud of dust around it. The dust turned out to be from a mousy-haired boy, who was just as dirty as the snowman.

"Pig-Pen," Charlie Brown sighed, "You're the only person I know who can raise a cloud of dust in a snowstorm." Pigpen looked proud.

He came across a doghouse, with Snoopy on top of it. There was a stack of bones beside the doghouse, taller than Charlie Brown, and Snoopy would occasionally take one and munch on it for awhile. Charlie Brown sighed again, where he met a group of two girls, one short and black-haired, the other taller with dark brown hair, and two boys, Linus and another, blond-haired.

"Try to catch snowflakes on your tongue," the brown-haired girl said. "It's fun."

Linus caught one and chewed on it. "Mmmm!" he said. "Needs sugar."

"It's too early," the dark-haired girl said. "I never eat December snowflakes; I always wait until January."

"They sure look ripe to me, Lucy," Linus declared.

By and by the kids noticed a can up on the fence, and tried to knock it off with snowballs, without success. Linus scooped up a huge mound of snow in his blanket, whirled it around, and shot it at the can like a slingshot, knocking it into the high reins of the atmosphere. Linus walked triumphantly passed the stunned group. Lucy frowned.

"You think you're so smart with that blanket," Lucy growled at Linus. "What're you gonna do with it when you grow up?"

"Maybe I'll make it into a sport coat," Linus shot back.

Charlie Brown walked over to a booth that resembled a kids' lemonade stand — except this stand said, "PSYCHIATRIC HELP - 5 CENTS. THE DOCTOR IS OUT." Charlie Brown sat down on the little stool beside it.

"I think you have a customer," the blond-haired boy said to Lucy.

"Thanks, Schroeder," Lucy said, and dashed over to the booth. She turned the "THE DOCTOR IS OUT" sign to read "THE DOCTOR IS WAY IN."

"May I help you?" Lucy asked Charlie Brown.

"I'm in sad shape..." Charlie Brown began.

"Wait a minute," Lucy interrupted. "Before you begin, I must ask that you pay in advance. Five cents, please."

She handed Charlie Brown a little metal can, and Charlie Brown dropped a nickel in it, with an audible _clink_ sound.

"Boy, what a sound!" Lucy exclaimed. "How I love to hear that old money clank, that beautiful sound of cold hard cash! That beautiful, beautiful sound. Nickels, nickels, nickels! That beautiful sound of plinking nickels. All right now," she continued to Charlie Brown, "what seems to be your trouble?"

"I feel depressed," Charlie Brown sighed. "I know I should be happy, but I'm not."

"Well, as they say on T. V.," Lucy began, "the mere fact that you realize that you need help, indicates that you are not too far gone ... I think we'd better try to pinpoint your fears. If we can find out what it is you're afraid of, we can label it.

"Are you afraid of responsibility? If you are, then you have hypengyophobia."

"I don't think that's quite it," Charlie Brown said.

"How about cats? If you're afraid of cats, you have ailurophasia."

"Well, sort of ... but I'm not sure ... "

"Are you afraid of staircases? If you are, then you have climacaphobia. Maybe you have thalassophobia. This is fear of the ocean. Or, gephyrobia, which is the fear of crossing bridges. Or maybe you have pantophobia. Do you think you have pantophobia?"

"What's pantophobia?"

"The fear of everything," Lucy smiled, leaning toward Charlie Brown.

"THAT'S IT!" Charlie Brown shouted angrily, shocking Lucy and knocking her to the ground.

As Lucy pulled herself up, Charlie Brown helped her, saying, "Actually, Lucy, my trouble's Christmas. Instead of feeling happy, I feel sort of let down."

"You need involvement," Lucy said. "You need to get involved in some real Christmas project. How'd you like to be the director of our Christmas play?"

"ME?" Charlie Brown exclaimed. "You want ME to be the director of the Christmas play?" He smiled crazily.

"Sure, Charlie Brown," Lucy replied. "We need a director; you need involvement. We've got a shepherd, musicians, animals, everything you need. We've even got a Christmas Queen," she said shyly, smiling.

"But I don't know anything about directing a Christmas play," Charlie Brown said worriedly.

"Don't worry. I'll be there to help you. I'll meet you at the auditorium. Incidentally, I know how you feel about all the Christmas business, getting depressed and all that. It happens to me every year."

Charlie Brown, however, was not focusing on her words, but instead watching Snoopy walk by. Lucy continued,

"I never get what I really want. I always get a lot of stupid toys, or a bicycle, or clothes, or something like that."

"What is it you want?" Charlie Brown asked her.

"Real estate," she replied.

They watched Snoopy walk by again, and Charlie Brown started following him. Snoopy led him to the doghouse. Dozens of boxes were around it.

"What's going on here?" Charlie Brown cried.

In response, Snoopy handed him a piece of paper and proceeded opening the boxes, containing Christmas lights and ornaments. He began to decorate the doghouse.

"What's this?" Charlie Brown asked. He read the piece of paper out loud, his tone of voice growing increasingly alarmed.

"Find the true meaning of Christmas! Win money, money, money! Spectacular supercolossal neighborhood lights and display contest?" He looked up. "LIGHTS AND DISPLAY CONTEST? Oh, no!

"My own dog, gone commercial. I can't stand it." He sighed, dropped the paper and started running toward the auditorium.

"I've been looking for you, big brother," a little girl with blond hair said, stopping Charlie Brown. "Will you write a letter to Santa Claus for me?"

"Well, Sally, I don't have much time," Charlie Brown replied. "I'm supposed to be making my way toward the auditorium."

"You write it and I'll tell you what I want to say," the little girl said, forcing a piece of paper and a pencil into Charlie Brown's arms.

"Okay, fine. Shoot."

"Dear Santa Claus, how have you been? Did you have a nice summer? How is your wife? I have been extra good this year, so I have a long list of presents that I want."

"Oh, brother."

"Please note the size and color of each item and send as many as possible," Sally continued, ignoring her brother. "If it seems too complicated, make it easy on yourself. Just send money. How about tens and twenties?"

"TENS AND TWENTIES?" Charlie Brown exclaimed, glaring at Sally. "Oh, even my baby sister!" He threw the paper and pencil into the air and Sally caught it, saying,

"All I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share."


	3. The Play & the Tree

Inside the auditorium, as Charlie Brown entered, Schroeder was playing lively jazz music on a toy piano, with Pig Pen accompanying him on a very dirty guitar, and the same kids who were skating at the pond were now dancing wildly to the music.

"ALL RIGHT," Lucy shouted, "Quiet, everybody. Our director will be here any minute and we'll start rehearsal."

"Director?" the brown-haired girl exclaimed. "What director?"

"Charlie Brown!" Lucy responded.

"Oh, no! Patty, we're doomed," Violet sighed.

"This'll be the worst Christmas play ever," Patty said grumpily.

"Here he comes!" Lucy exclaimed, cutting her off. "Attention everyone! Here is our new director!"

The kids clapped, seemingly enthusiastically, but one "Boo" penetrated the noise. The crowd parted, and the "Boo" turned out to be from Snoopy.

"Man's best friend," Charlie Brown said sarcastically, throwing his coat off. Snoopy looked abashed.

"Well," Charlie Brown began, taking a stand by the director's chair, "it's real good to see you all here. As you know, we are going to put on a Christmas play. Due to the shortage of time, we'll get right down to work. One of the first things to ensure a good performance is to pay strict attention to the director. I'll keep my directions simple." He began gesturing to ensure his point. "If I point to the right, it means focus attention stage right, and the same with stage left. If I make a slashing motion across my throat, it means cut the scene short. If I spread my hands apart, it means slow down. It's the spirit of the actors that counts; the interest they show in their director. Am I right? I said, am I right?"

But the group wasn't listening. The music had started up again, and they were all dancing. "I call this 'Linus and Lucy', " Schroeder declared.

"STOP THE MUSIC!" Charlie Brown shouted. Then, more calmly through a megaphone, "All right now, we're going to do this play, and we're going to do it right. Lucy, get those costumes and scripts and pass 'em out. Now, the script girl will be handing out your parts."

"Frieda," Lucy said to a red-haired girl with hair in spirals, "you're the innkeeper's wife."

"Do innkeeper's wives have naturally curly hair?" Frieda said, bouncing one of her curls.

"Pig-Pen," Lucy continued, "You're the innkeeper."

"In spite of my outward appearance," Pig-Pen said nobly, "I shall try to run a neat inn."

"Sheremy," Lucy said to a short, black-haired boy, "you're a shepherd."

"Every Christmas it's the same," Sheremy complained. "I always end up playing a shepherd."

"Snoopy," Lucy said, "You'll have to be all the animals in our play. Can you be a sheep?"

"_Baaa_," Snoopy bleated.

"How 'bout a cow?"

"_Mooooo_."

"How 'bout a penguin?"

Snoopy pinned his arms to his sides and walked around, making clicking sounds with his feet.

"Yes, you're even a good penguin."

Snoopy growled, and jumped on top of Lucy's head. Lucy looked up at him angrily.

"NO, NO, NO!" she shouted, as Snoopy fell off her head, and began imitating her. "LISTEN, all of you. You've got to take direction. You've got to have discipline! You've gotta have respect for your director!"

With that, she turned around, and found Snoopy still imitating her.

"I oughta slug you!" she growled. She swiped at Snoopy, but missed, and Snoopy licked her cheek.

"AGH! I'VE BEEN KISSED BY A DOG!" Lucy shouted. "I HAVE DOG GERMS! Get hot water! Get some disinfectant! Get some iodine!"

"Bleaahhh," Snoopy cried.

"AGH," Lucy bellowed, running past Charlie Brown.

"All right, all right, script girl, continue with the scripts," Charlie Brown shouted angrily.

Lucy looked back and glared at Snoopy while approaching her next victim.

"Linus," she said grumpily, "you've got to get rid of that stupid blanket." She handed him a script and a costume. "And here, memorize these lines."

"I can't memorize these lines," Linus cried, looking at the script. "This is ridiculous."

"Memorize it," Lucy said, ignoring her brother, "and be ready to recite when your cue comes."

"I can't memorize something like this so quickly. Why should I be put through such agony? Give me one good reason why I should memorize this."

"I'll give you five good reasons," Lucy snarled. She began making a fist, one finger at a time. "One, two, three, four, FIVE."

"Those are good reasons," Linus stammered. "Christmas is not only getting too commercial, it's getting too dangerous."

"And get rid of that stupid blanket!" Lucy shot at him. "What's a Christmas shepherd gonna look like holding a stupid blanket like that?"

"Well, this is one Christmas shepherd that's going to keep his trusty blanket with him," Linus replied, draping the blanket over his head as Lucy's fist teetered dangerously toward his nose. "See? You wouldn't hurt an innocent shepherd, would you?" He smiled as Lucy headed over to Charlie Brown, who was trying very hard to hold back his temper.

"All right, Mr. Director," Lucy called. "The cast is set. Take over."

"All right," Charlie Brown replied. Then, to the whole cast, "Let's have it quiet. Places, everybody. Schroeder, set the mood for the first scene."

Schroeder began playing a lively jazz beat, which set the kids off dancing again.

"CUT! CUT! No, no, no!" Charlie Brown yelled.

He walked over to Frieda and Pig-Pen, saying, "Look, let's rehearse the scene at the inn. Frieda, you — "

"This can't go on," Frieda interrupted, holding a mirror in front of her to check her hairstyle. "There's too much dust. It's taking the curl out of my naturally curly hair."

"Don't think of it as dust," Charlie Brown suggested. "Think of it as maybe the soil of some great, past civilization. Maybe the soil of ancient Babylon. It staggers the imagination. You may be carrying soil that was tread on by Solomon. Or even Nebuchadnezzar."

"Sort of makes you want to treat me with more respect, doesn't it?" Pig-Pen said proudly.

"You're an absolute mess," Frieda complained, handing the mirror to Pig-Pen. "Just look at yourself."

Pig-Pen looked into the mirror and smiled. "On the contrary, I didn't think I looked that good."

Charlie Brown sighed and walked over to Linus. "Sally, come here," he called.

"What do you want her for?" Linus asked, having to take his thumb out of his mouth to speak.

"She's going to be your wife."

"Good grief."

Sally clapped her hands gleefully. Thoughts of love danced in her head. "Isn't he the cutest thing? He has the nicest sense of humor."

Linus covered his head with his blanket at walked away. Sally picked up the part that was dragging on the ground and followed him gleefully.

"Lunch break. Lunch break." Lucy called as Charlie Brown approached her.

"LUNCH break?" Charlie Brown asked.

He turned around and saw Snoopy come back into the auditorium with his supper dish. He began kicking it and playing with it, showing off.

"All right now," Charlie Brown said, stopping the spinning supper dish. "There's no time for foolishness; we've got to get on with our play."

"That's right," Lucy suddenly said. "What about my part? What about the Christmas Queen? Are you going to let all this beauty go to waste? You do think I'm beautiful, don't you, Charlie Brown?" She paused for two seconds, in which Charlie Brown looked uncomfortable but didn't say anything.

"You didn't answer right away," Lucy cried suddenly. "You had to think about it first, didn't you? If you really had thought I was beautiful, you would've spoken right up. I know when I've been insulted. I know when I've been insulted!" she exclaimed, storming off in a huff.

"Good grief," Charlie Brown said to himself. He picked up the megaphone. "All right, let's take it from the top again. Places ... action."

Schroeder began playing the jazzy beat again, and Lucy (who had calmed down by now) began snapping her fingers to the tune. "Charlie Brown, isn't it a great play?"

Charlie Brown threw the megaphone to the ground. It made a metallic honking sound. "THAT DOES IT. Now, look. If we're ever going to get this play off the ground, you've got to have some cooperation." This time is was his turn to storm off.

"What's the matter, Charlie Brown?" Lucy asked, following him. "Don't you think it's great?"

"It's all wrong," Charlie Brown replied.

"Look, Charlie. Let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know."

"Well, this is one Christmas play that's not going to be commercial."

"Look, Charlie Brown. What do you want?"

"The proper mood. We need a Christmas tree."

"Hey, perhaps a tree. A great, big, shiny aluminum Christmas tree. That's it, Charlie Brown! You get the tree. I'll handle this crowd."

"Okay," Charlie Brown said, cheering up. "I'll take Linus with me. The rest of you, practice your lines."

"Get the biggest aluminum tree you can find, Charlie Brown. Maybe painted pink!" Lucy called after him.

"Yeah, do something right for a change, Charlie Brown," Patty said.

"I don't know, Linus," Charlie Brown sighed, looking back at the dancing group. "I just don't know."

They proceeded out the door and began walking.

"Well, I guess we'd better concentrate on finding a nice Christmas tree," Charlie Brown said.

"I suggest we try those searchlights, Charlie Brown," Linus said, pointing to two lighted arcs stretching to the sky.  
They soon entered a Christmas tree lot. Linus banged on an orange tree; it made a metallic clanging sound.

"This really brings Christmas close to a person," Linus declared.

"Fantastic," Charlie Brown said sarcastically.

They wandered through the lot, finding only multicolored, metal Christmas trees. That is, until they came across a scraggly, tiny pine tree on a wooden stand.

"Gee, do they still make wooden Christmas trees?" Linus asked.

"This little green one here seems to need a home," Charlie Brown said, gesturing to the small tree.

"I don't know, Charlie Brown," Linus warned. "Remember what Lucy said? This doesn't seem to fit the modern spirit."

"I don't care," Charlie Brown replied firmly. "We'll decorate it and it'll be just right for our play. Besides, I think it needs me."

He picked it up and several needles fell off, making a small pile.


	4. What Christmas Is

Meanwhile, back at the auditorium, Lucy was leaning on Schroeder's toy piano, listening to Schroeder declare, "This is the music I've selected for the Christmas play."

He began playing the famous song "Für Elise."

"What kind of Christmas music is that?" Lucy asked skeptically.

"Beethoven Christmas music," Schroeder replied, not taking his eyes off of the keyboard.

"What has Beethoven got to do with Christmas? Everyone talks about how great Beethoven was. Beethoven wasn't so great."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BEETHOVEN WASN'T SO GREAT?" Schroeder yelled angrily, and the music suddenly ceased.

Lucy looked at him. "He never got his picture on bubble gum cards, did he? Have you ever seen his picture on a bubble gum card? Huh? How can you say someone is great who's never had his picture on bubble gum cards?"

"Good grief," Schroeder said to himself, exasperated. He resumed playing. Snoopy, meanwhile, had been strolling over to the piano and now began dancing to the music happily. Gradually, Schroeder and Lucy both noticed and began glaring at poor Snoopy, who was unaware that Schroeder had stopped playing. His happiness soon died down as he discovered this, and he stopped dancing, blushed and slowly slinked off. Schroeder started playing again.

"Say, by the way," Lucy asked him, "can you play 'Jingle Bells?' "

Schroeder began playing with a classical tune.

"No, no. I mean 'Jingle Bells.' You know, deck them halls and all that stuff?"

Schroeder began playing with an organ sound.

"No, no. You don't get it at all. I mean 'Jingle Bells.' You know, Santa Claus and ho ho ho and mistletoe and — " here she smiled and leaned toward Schroeder, " — presents to pretty girls?"

Schroeder glared at her. He began tapping out the melody, on a very high scale, with one finger.

"THAT'S IT!" Lucy shouted. Schroeder reeled.

"We're back," a voice called, and Charlie Brown and Linus walked in with the tree. Charlie Brown set it on top of Schroeder's piano, and several more needles fell off.

The kids gathered around in astonishment at the sad little tree. They all began talking at once.

"Boy, are you stupid, Charlie Brown."

"What kind of a tree is that?"

"You were supposed to get a good tree. Can't you tell a good tree from a poor tree?"

"I told you he'd goof it up. He's not the kind you can depend on to do anything right."

"You're hopeless, Charlie Brown."

"Completely hopeless."

"RATS," Charlie Brown shouted in agony.

"You've been dumb before, Charlie Brown," Lucy cried, "but this time you really did it."

There was a few moments of utter silence. Then all the kids began laughing at once. "What a tree! Ha ha ha ha ha!" They slowly walked away, still laughing, all except for Snoopy, who stayed for just a little while longer to laugh in poor Charlie Brown's face. But he, too, eventually left, leaving Linus and Charlie Brown all alone.

"I guess you were right, Linus," Charlie Brown sighed. "I shouldn't have picked this little tree. Everything I do turns into a disaster. I guess I really don't know what Christmas is all about." It became clear to Linus that his friend was trying to hold back tears.

Then, suddenly, Charlie Brown yelled, "ISN'T THERE ANYONE WHO KNOWS WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT?"

"Sure, Charlie Brown," Linus replied. "I can tell you what Christmas is all about."

He walked to the center of the auditorium stage so that his message would be received by the rest of the kids as well. There, he quoted from the Bible:

" _'And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them. The glory of the Lord shone round about them. And they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not. For behold, I bring you tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill toward men." '_ "

With that, Linus picked up his blanket, approached Charlie Brown, and said simply, "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

Charlie Brown got a thoughtful look on his face. He picked up the little, scraggly tree and walked out of the auditorium, past the group of quiet kids. Outside, he looked out at the stars where he pondered Linus' words:

" _' "...For behold, I bring you tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you." ' _"

"Linus is right," Charlie Brown said aloud. "I won't let all of this commercialism ruin my Christmas. I'll take this little tree home, and decorate it, and I'll show them it really will work in our play."

And with that, he ran home — and found, in his backyard, that Snoopy's doghouse had been decorated rather crazily. He looked at the little ribbon which had been placed upon it.

"FIRST PRIZE? Oh well, this commercial dog is not going to ruin my Christmas."

He set the tree down and happily picked off an ornament from the doghouse, which he hung on the scraggly tree. It teetered for a second, then slumped over from the very weight of the bulb.

Charlie Brown looked at it in horror.

"I've killed it," he said to himself. Then, with a cry of despair, "OH! Everything I TOUCH gets ruined!"

He sadly walked away. Unbeknownst to him, the rest of the kids had left the auditorium and had been following and watching him. They now walked toward Snoopy's doghouse, next to whcih the tiny, scraggly tree now resided, and stood before it, looking at the tree thoughtfully.

"I never thought it was such a bad little tree," Linus said. He wrapped his blanket around the base of the tree, which straightened it up again. "It's not bad at all, really; maybe it just needs a little love."

The rest of group, all getting the same idea at once, started removing decorations from Snoopy's doghouse and lovingly began placing them on the tree. When they were done, it was hardly recognizable. It looked lush, beautiful, and not at all sad.

"Charlie Brown is a blockhead, but he did get a nice tree," Lucy said thoughtfully. The kids proudly stood by their creation and hummed "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

Charlie Brown, who was walking toward his house in despair, turned around and saw the kids gathered around the tree. "What's going on here?" he asked, going to join them.

But when Charlie Brown saw the tree, he couldn't believe his eyes. He gazed at it, from top to bottom. He closed his eyes and opened them again to make sure they were working properly. He was stunned at the beauty of what had started out as a lonesome, gloomy Christmas tree. And Charlie Brown smiled, a huge, joyful smile of pure happiness.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN!" the kids all joyfully shouted in unison. Then they began to sing, with a merry Charlie Brown joining them:

_Hark the herald angels sing,_

_Glory to the newborn king._

_Peace on Earth and mercy mild,_

_God and sinner reconciled._

_Joyful, all ye nations rise,_

_Join the triumph of the skies!_

_With angelic host proclaim:_

_Christ is born in Bethlehem!_

_Hark, the Herald angels sing,_

_Glory to the newborn king._

The End


End file.
